Wraparound Program

A continuum of social services provided to the most at-risk youth in the justice system, tailored towards building strengths, promoting success, safety, and permanency in home, school, and the community.

Eligibility and referrals

CJCJ targets justice-involved youth, aged 14-24, who have complex, multi-faceted needs, including acute mental health diagnoses. Youth must be in, or at risk of being placed in, out-of-home placement.

Juvenile probation officers may complete a referral form and submit it to the Multi-Agency Services Team (MAST) Committee, which is comprised of San Francisco Human Services Agency (HSA), Department of Public Health (DPH), Seneca Center, and, where applicable, the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department. If a youth is eligible for services, CJCJ’s staff will review his or her file to determine that our Wrap program is appropriate for the youth’s needs.

To make a referral or a request for services, please contact Kimo Uila at (415) 621-5661 x. 101 or kimo@cjcj.org.

How it works

Once accepted into the program, a Wrap Rehabilitation Counselor will work directly with the youth and their family to address their unique needs. CJCJ has a capacity to serve 15 youth and their families. Services include:

24/7 crisis intervention

Academic tutoring and linkages

Multi-disciplinary therapy

After school programs

Employment readiness training

Family location services

CJCJ therapists specialize in a strengths-based service delivery model, with a heavy emphasis on building safe, healthy, and adaptive coping skills through culturally competent individual therapy and systems-based family therapy.

The Wrap approach is team driven, involving other key individuals who collaborate to develop, implement, and evaluate an individualized care plan.

A typical Wrap team:

Wrap Rehabilitation Counselor

Support Partners

Therapist

Family member(s)

Youth

Extended family or community members that the family/youth has a close, long-standing relationship with.

CJCJ recognizes that working with the youth and their families in the community, rather than in an office setting, maximizes success. As such, the wraparound program provides a diversity of services within the youth’s everyday environment, including the familial residence.

History

Initially developed in the 1970’s, Wraparound services have evolved over the decades, adopting a single, clear methodology in the 1990’s. The focus of wraparound services today is to broker community resources in a culturally competent and population-specific fashion. By collaborating with the client, family, and family friends, wraparound seeks to provide long-term relationships for high-needs youth. The goal is to divert youth away from out-of-home placement options by creating a safe environment for the youth to thrive in the community. The National Wraparound Initiative has developed a list of 10 principles that are evident in all wraparound plans.

CJCJ inherited wraparound methodology from Seneca Center, a leader in community and family-based service options for emotionally troubled children and their families. Seneca Center operates a wraparound program, San Francisco Connections that predominantly serves youth in the child welfare system. In January 2009, Seneca Center collaborated with CJCJ to modify the program to serve justice-involved youth.